


The Difference Between Pack And Family

by orphan_account



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Friendship, Gen, Kid Fic, M/M, Minor Derek Hale/Scott McCall, Possible Sterek, Sad Scott, Young Derek, Young Scott, Young Stiles
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-11
Updated: 2017-08-11
Packaged: 2018-12-14 03:59:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,149
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11775021
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Derek discovers a sad Scott at the park one afternoon after school, and doesn't quite understand what is wrong.-------Or the one where Derek doesn't understand that family's can be broken.(Derek is 9, Scott and Stiles are 7)





	The Difference Between Pack And Family

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! This is just something I came up with one night when I couldn't sleep. I hope you like it!

When Derek Hale was 9 years old he understood what being in a pack meant. It meant courage, safety, and most importantly it meant family. 

Of course he knew they were family. His mom, dad, sisters Cora and Laura, and him. Even his crazy Uncle Peter. They had always been a family, everyone around them knew them as a family, but only they knew that being in a pack and being a family was two very different things. 

Family was great but being in a pack, even better. 

That's why Derek wasn't quite sure why the little boy across from him, the one dangling from the monkey bars, was crying about his dad leaving. Derek didn't understand. His dad left all the time, it was part of his job, but he always came back. 

Sure he missed him, what little boy wouldn't miss his father when he went away, but he never cried over him not coming home. Derek knew it was impolite to listen to other people's conversations, but the boy wreaked of sadness and hurt. Derek just had to listen. 

"-but Scott, don't cry. You have me! And my dad, he loves you a lot and you have your mom!" Derek noticed the other boy trying to cheer his friend up. They were both younger than him, maybe 7. 

"I don't want my dad to leave me. I-I have to be better, an-and do better in school. I have to be a better son, and maybe he'll want to stay."

What the boy, Derek guessed his name was Scott, had said made him feel sad. He could feel his older sister Laura watching him from the side of the park. He knew she must have felt the mood shift that had come over him, so he gave her a nice big smile before turning back to the area the two boys were in before. He searched everywhere but couldn't find them.

Derek felt the urge to find the boy, hug him and tell him it was gonna be okay, but he ignored it. He decided not to say anything to his sister 15 minutes later when it was time to go, but Derek couldn't forget how sad the other boys eyes had looked. 

\---

It was later that night when Talia Hale noticed the slight change in her son. Despite his quiet nature, she could tell that something was wrong with him. 

She asked Laura if anything had happened at school, or maybe at the park they attended afterwards. Her daughter answered no, but she agreed that there was in fact something wrong with her little brother. 

Talia waited until after dinner to ask questions, knowing that Derek became embarrassed easy when put in the spotlight. 

Shortly after dinner, when everyone crowded into the family room to watch movies and play games, she called Derek into the kitchen. 

"Derek, honey, are you okay?" She watched with worried eyes as her son looked around the room, avoiding eye contact. 

"Did something happen at school?" She tried a different approach. Derek was shy, and wasn't very good at being straight up when things were bothering him. 

He shook his head no, crossing his fingers together. "School was fine." 

Talia wasn't sure what else it could be. His Uncle Peter was out of town so it couldn't have been anything he had done. She knew her brother meant well, but sometimes he took things too far. 

She crouched down and took her son's small hand in hers. "Baby, if something is wrong you can tell me." 

He sighed before nodding. "Today at the park I was listening to these two boys talk, and one of them was crying about his dad leaving. He was really sad and it made me sad. Why would his dad want to leave him, mom?" 

Talia wasn't sure what to say. Derek seemed really upset over this and she wanted to make it better. But she knew that Derek was getting to the age where things didn't need to be sugar coated anymore. She decided to tell him the truth, even thought it was probably not what he wanted to hear. 

She sat down in the kitchen floor and motioned for Derek to take a seat beside her. She wasn't sure what to say, so she started with something her father would tell her. 

"Derek, sometimes things happen that we can't really explain. Sometimes things don't work out, and sometimes those things can be people. Whoever this boy is I'm sure he's very hurt. It's not everyday that someone find out their parents are getting a divorce. As much as we want to fix things for them, we can't. All we can do is try and be there for them, and help them when they're sad. I'm sure that as bad as everything is for him right now, things will get better." Talia hoped that what she had said would help Derek feel a little better. 

"I thought families were supposed to stay together always..." He whispered. 

"Well that's the idea of being in a family. But, just because you're not together doesn't mean you're not a family. Just because his dad is leaving doesn't mean he's not his dad anymore. Does that make sense, honey? Grandma and Grandpa don't live with us, but we're still a family." 

Derek nodded. "So his dad isn't leaving him, he's just moving to a new place?" 

Talia smiled. "Yes! That's exactly what he's doing. He'll still see him and get to be around him, he just won't live with him." 

Derek gave his mom a smile. He felt a little better now. He couldn't imagine not having his dad, and he didn't want Scott to not have a dad either. 

Derek stood up, and turned towards the kitchen door. He could hear his sister's laugher in the other room, and he wanted to join them. 

"Derek," he turned around when he heard his name. "the best thing you can do for Scott is be his friend." 

The thought of being friends with the two younger boys had never crossed his mind, but he liked the idea. "Yes, ma'am!" He said before running off into the other room. 

\--- 

The next day Laura took him to the park after school again. Instead of running straight to the slide that he loved, he made his way to the monkey bars where he spotted the two boys playing. 

"Hi," he whispered. He didn't want to scare them off, so he tried being as nice as possible. 

He couldn't help but laugh as the taller boy tripped over his feet where he had been running after Scott. He gave both boys a smile before introducing himself. 

"My name's Derek, and I was wondering if you would like to be friends." 

If only Derek knew what being friends with these two boys would lead to.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading my first little fic!! I hope you liked it, and I'm sorry it wasn't very long. I haven't really thought about making this into a series, but who knows.


End file.
